Temporary adjustable support brace

ABSTRACT

A system and method for securing an insulated concrete wall to keep the wall straight and plumb during construction, independent of any other bracing structure or scaffolding frame. The system uses the lower previously constructed section of the wall as a secure anchoring base for the continued construction of the wall. The system uses a member that is vertically placed and attached against the insulated form wall with at least one securing extension that passes thru the foam panel and into the cavity of the wall before concrete is placed within the wall cavity. After concrete is placed in the lower section and additional rows of insulated forms are placed on top of the lower wall, a vertical brace is attached to the lower vertical member so that it extends above the lower poured section of the wall. A vertical upper member is then attached to the upper section of the insulated form wall in proper alignment with the vertical brace. A securing adjustment device is attached to the upper member and the brace allowing for the upper section of the formed wall to be properly aligned and plumbed. This system and method is now repeated with the upper section of the formed wall to become the lower section of the formed wall. The system is repeated until the final desired wall height is reached.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to insulated concrete form (ICF) wallbracing, and more particularly to a system and method for bracing andaligning an insulated concrete wall form.

2. Prior Art

Conventional building construction utilizes concrete walls that arenormally produced by constructing form walls, pouring concrete into thespace between the walls and, upon setting of the concrete, removing theform walls. A conventional concrete form wall is disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 4,333,289 to Strickland. The form wall includes a pair of spacedopposed panels made from plywood and defining therebetween a space intowhich fluid concrete is poured in forming the wall. Horizontally spacedvertical stiffeners or strongbacks are provided outwardly of eachplywood panel to provide major strengthening for the panel supportstructure. Elongated beams or walers are also provided to extendhorizontally along the outer side of each panel. An outwardly openingpocket formed as part of the waler retains a wooden nailer to which theplywood form panel can be nailed, screwed or otherwise fastened to thewaler.

Another system for temporarily attaching a reinforcing beam to a pouredconcrete structural member is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,838 to Truittet al. An insert is adapted to be set in the poured concrete member. Theinsert has a body that creates a void in the concretestructural memberand leg members that are partially set in the poured concrete withportions thereof extending through the body of the insert so as to befree of concrete. A special bolt engages the leg members and provides ameans for securing a reinforcement beam to the concrete structuralmember.

More recent building systems involve the use of insulated concrete forms(ICFs), which use a foam insulating material to construct permanentconcrete form walls. The form walls are typically constructed by placingseparate building components (also known as form blocks) upon eachother. The concrete is then poured and the form walls are left in placeafter the concrete hardens to become a permanent part of the wall.Advantages provided by the use of ICFs include a reduction in the numberof operations normally associated with building construction andgenerally the elimination of a need to provide further insulation. Anexample of particularly advantageous types of ICFs appears in U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,390,459; 5,657,600; and 5,809,727 to Mensen (Mensen), thedisclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety. In general, the ICFs taught by Mensen are made from a buildingcomponent or block that includes first and second foam side panels. Theside panels are preferably made of expanded polystyrene and are arrangedin spaced parallel relationship with their inner surfaces facing eachother. Plastic bridging members hold the side panels together againstthe forces applied by the fluid concrete. Each bridging member includesend plates, which may be arranged to line up when the components arestacked to form furring strips for attachment of finishing materialswith the advent of the use of stay-in-place forms or permanent concreteform work, such as ICFs, there is a need in the building constructionart for an efficient, cost-effective and reliable system and method tosupport and align the walls during construction. Commercial,institutional and industrial buildings often require walls higher than 8to 12 feet (herein referred to as “tall wall” in order to incorporatemachinery, warehousing and high wall assemblies. Existing bracingsystems used in ICF tall wall construction become much more laborintensive as the height of the wall increases {such as when the ICF isused to construct a wall of greater than 12 feet in height).

Accordingly, a bracing system such as shown in FIG. 1 has been used inICF wall construction. This known system includes a vertical channel 120that is connected to the ICF blocks before they are filled with concreteusing screws 122 that pass through the channel 120 an into exposed endplates 124 of the plastic bridging members in the ICF blocks. Asdiscussed above, the end plates 124 of each bridging member in the ICFblocks may be arranged to line up when the ICF blocks are stacked. Theresulting “furring strip” provides the support for the vertical channel120. A two-piece diagonal bracing pole 130 is joined at the threadedends of each piece of the pole by a turnbuckle 132, which allows foradjustments in the length of pole 130. The diagonal pole is attached tothe ground or sub-floor at one end 130, and to the channel 120 at theopposite end 130. A standard scaffold angle 140 is also attached to thechannel 120 to support scaffolding upright 150 and planks 152.Adjustments in the length of diagonal pole 130 by turning turnbuckle 132result in the end 130 of pole 130 either pushing or pulling on verticalchannel member 120, thus affecting the angle of the wall formed from thestacked ICF blocks. The disadvantages of this type of alignment systemfor tall walls include height limitations imposed by the length of thechannel 120, and the loads of both scaffold planking and constructioncrew are part of the formed wall structure.

A tall wall bracing system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,114,296 toKlassen et al. This system uses a type of stacked conventionalscaffolding as shown in FIG. 2. As each section is placed above theprevious installed section, it is attached to the ICF wall. Diagonalturnbuckles are used to align the formed wall. As shown in FIG. 3, thissystem does solve the height limitations of other systems, however it isa very slow and labor intensive system and method for tall wallconstruction.

Hence, the foregoing discussion shows that there is a need for atemporary bracing system capable of supporting and aligning ICF wallsduring construction, particularly in tall wall applications, thateliminates the need for scaffolding.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention solves the problems and avoids the disadvantages of theprior art by providing a system and method that eliminates the need forscaffolding and allows the use of man lifts, such as scissor lifts andboom lifts during construction. The system provides adequate structureto temporarily support and align the ICF form wall during construction.The use of man lifts greatly increases the speed of construction andprovides a much safer working platform.

DETAILED DISCRIPTION

In the first aspect of the invention, as shown in FIG. 3 a bracingmember 103 is disposed vertically and adjacent to the outside face ofthe first two rows of insulating panel forms 101 with at least oneremovable horizontal assembly 104 that passes thru the foam panel andwill be imbedded in the poured concrete. Prior to placement of thepoured concrete the vertical member 103 is temporarily attached to thebridging member end plates 104 of the insulated forms using screws.Typically the first two rows of ICF insulating panel forms are at groundlevel and therefore vertically plumbed using standard methods forconcrete walls. A pourable concrete is then placed within and to the topof the first two rows of the insulating panel forms.

The next few rows of insulating panel forms are set in place above thelower rows. As shown in FIG. 4 a rigid vertical brace 107 is attached tothe lower vertical member 103 at the location 106. The upper verticalmember 108 is then attached to the rigid vertical brace 107 at location109. The upper vertical member is then attached to the end plates atlocation 105 of the icf formed wall. An adjustable assembly 110 is thenattached to both the upper vertical member 108 and the rigid verticalbrace 107. The upper portion of the icf wall can now be properlyaligned. As seen in FIG. 5 the process is repeated until the formed wallreaches the desired height.

1. A system for temporarily bracing an insulated wall form comprising:an insulated wall form having generally parallel spaced panels definingtherebetween a cavity for receiving pourable building material, at leastone of said panels being formed from foam insulating material havingoutside and inside faces; the first portion being a member disposedadjacent to the outside face of the lower section of insulating panel; asecond portion comprising a vertical brace attached to the lower member;a third portion comprising of an upper member attached to the upperportion of the insulating panel; and a fourth portion consisting of anadjustable device connecting the upper member to the vertical brace, andwherein said adjustable device allows for alignment of wall comprised ofinsulated panels.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first portionbeing comprised of a member secured to the outside face of the insulatedpanel and at least one horizontal extension that passes thru theinsulated panel, with a portion extending beyond the inside face ofinsulated panel.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the horizontalextension is comprised of a portion that remains embedded within theinsulated foam wall, and a portion that is removable from the outside ofinsulated panel.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the second portionbeing comprised of a brace extending vertically above the lower sectionof insulated wall and using at least one fastener is vertically attachedand secured to the lower member that is secured to the outside face ofthe insulated wall.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the third portionbeing comprised of an upper member that is aligned and verticallyattached to the upper section of the foam panel wall
 6. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the fourth portion being comprised of a securingadjustment device, is placed so that it secures the upper member to thevertical brace allowing for adjustment of the upper member so that it isstraight and plumb.